Two drug mules carrying 2 million methamphetamine pills were arrested at a checkpoint in the northern border province of Chiang Rai after travelling only 200 metres.
Chiang Rai police reported on Saturday morning that the duo had been taken into custody and charged with the distribution of a Category 1 drug. They were identified only as Kriti, 44, and Phap, 56.
Acting on a tip received on Dec 6 about a pending attempt to transport drugs via the Chiang Rai bypass, authorities set up checkpoints on Road No 131 in tambon Rop Wiang of Muang district.
On Saturday morning, police stopped and inspected a Chevrolet pickup truck with Lampang licence plates heading into Chiang Rai. Kriti was driving the vehicle with Phap in the passenger seat.
Finding several black plastic bags in the back seat, officers opened them to discover 10 woven sacks, each containing bags of methamphetamine stamped with Y1 and A. Each sack contained 200,000 pills, or 2 million in total.
The pair admitted to police that they had been approached during the Loy Krathong festival to transport the drugs.
They told police they had only finished loading their truck 30 minutes prior and had driven only about 200 metres before being intercepted.